Mississippi State
South Carolina
USC Blanks Bulldogs To Complete Series Sweep
November 16, 2007 | Volleyball
? Official Statistics
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COLUMBIA, S.C. - Senior Jamie Joyner tallied her 1000th career kill and freshman Ashley Newsome matched a career-high with nine kills Friday night, but South Carolina managed to complete a two-match series sweep of the Bulldogs with a 3-0 win at USC's Volleyball Competition Facility. USC (13-15, 6-13 SEC) prevailed 30-24, 30-20, 32-30 over MSU (12-16, 7-12 SEC).
With a team-best 10 kills, Joyner raised her career kills total to 1,006.
USC got a match-high 14 kills from Meredith Moor, who hit .423. Ivana Kujundzic reached double figures with 12 kills and Belita Salters added 10. USC's Dani Bedore took match honors with 18 digs.
State led in the early going of the opening set, taking a 4-2 lead on Jamie Joyner's first kill of the night. But it would be the only lead of the set for the Bulldogs, who were whistled for seven ball-handling and blocking errors and misfired on three serves to fall out of contention. Joyner notched her fourth kill of the match and the 1,000th of her career as State closed to within three at 25-22, but USC out-pointed the Bulldogs 5-2 down the stretch for a 30-24 win.
The Gamecocks wasted little time in taking control of the second set, racing to an 8-2 lead and building that lead out to 13 points twice in a 30-20 win. Meredith Moorhead led the offensive charge for USC, totaling five kills in the set. Errors continued to plague the Bulldogs, who were whistled for 12 more in the second set. Ioana Demian paced MSU with four kills.
State bounced back after the break, parlaying a 6-1 run into a 16-8. USC answered with a 6-0 run of its own, tying the score at 18-18 on a service ace by Dani Bedore. State built the lead out to 23-19 on an ace by Jennifer Hauskey, a kill by Demian and a block by Erin Seago. But South Carolina thundered back to tie the score at 28-28, fending off a Bulldog serve at game point following a kill by Joyner, and scoring the match-winning point on the seventh ball-handling call of the night against MSU.
Megan Lukasek paced MSU on defense with 14 digs while Erin Seago totaled a team-best three blocks.
The Bulldogs conclude their 2007 schedule on the road Sunday, testing seventh-ranked Florida (24-1, 117-1 SEC) in a 12:30 p.m. (CT) match at the O'Connell Center.
